


Art thou pale for weariness

by Sternenstaub



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Insecure Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Inspired By Tumblr, Love Confessions, Love Poems, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 03:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30099429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sternenstaub/pseuds/Sternenstaub
Summary: When Regis said, "the moon looks lovely tonight" he really meant "I love you", sure Geralt wouldn't understand the slip. However Geralt had a love of poetry as well and understood perfectly.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy
Comments: 13
Kudos: 43





	Art thou pale for weariness

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this short comic. 
> 
> https://tio-trile.tumblr.com/post/640495966998462464/okay-so-its-a-well-known-fact-at-least-on
> 
> The artist asked for a happy gay ending and I decided to deliver if CDPR wouldn't.

"The moon is lovely tonight, don't you think my friend?" Regis asked and for a moment Geralt forgot how to breathe. To stand here, together with his old time friend felt unreal. To stand side by side with the object of his dreams and nightmares full of fire and guilt and watch the moon together. He wanted to hide Regis from the world, to make sure nothing would ever happen to him again, protect the vampire. He knew how ridiculous that thought was, Regis was a vampire, plenty capable to protect himself, and Geralt was a witcher to boot. No witcher should feel this way about the monster he was made to hunt. But that wasn't true, the world wasn't black and white, Geralt had learned that the hard way. Regis was no more monster than Geralt was.

The pale light glinted on a drop of mandrake cordial still on Regis' lips and suddenly Geralt wanted nothing more than to kiss that drop away, to taste the herbs and sweetness and get lost in soft lips and sharp teeth. He was startled by how much he wanted this. So of course he blurted out the first thing that came to mind, that would surely calm him down, the thought of Regis with someone else, several someone's, all decidedly not old, gruffy and full of scars, "Lemme guess, you're thinking about the succubus twins" he blurted out.

Regis stopped for a moment, the scent of herbs and liquorice soured, "No, I was thinking about…" he stopped for a moment and Geralt was sure the continuation of that sentence would change his life, but then Regis looked at him, his gaze suddenly sad and reserved, not the open plains of brown and kindness anymore,  
"... About how anything can look interesting when properly lit." the vampire ended the sentence, not looking at Geralt anymore but at the moon instead, spine straight and unyielding. 

The witcher felt his heart sink, the moment was gone and he knew it was his fault. The wind rustled in the pine trees surrounding the clearing they were staying in, the moon shone her bright light onto the world, uncaring about Geralt´s internal struggle. After a moment of silence, not quite as comfortable as it had usually been between them, a memory tugged at Geralt's mind. A book Eskel had given Geralt one winter at Kaer Morhen, poetry and love letters. At first Geralt had scoffed at the reading material Eskel thought suitable but then he had taken a look anyway and even memorized a few poems. He liked to recite them in his mind when the path was especially lonely. A few of them were about the moon. Eskel had explained that in some cultures people didn't say "I love you", instead using certain phrases and pictures. One of them was "the moon looks lovely tonight."

His oh so slow witcher heart stopped in his chest for a moment. Was this what Regis had meant? Was that possible? The vampire was very well read, it was not impossible that he knew the meaning. But it was much more likely he just liked the image of the moon, the pale light bathing everything in a cold sheen, a light that made vampires (and certain pale witchers) look less and more eerie at the same time, all the colors slightly distorted to their advantage. It was the real reason so many creatures preferred to roam at night, the darkness and blue light the moon offered them, made living between humans so much easier, and made them almost feel human. Geralt rarely had the privilege, his eyes and sword giving him away more than his skin ever could.

Regis looked at him, expression almost unreadable, his kind eyes full of unspoken emotions. He watched Geralt closely with a head tilt that spoke of concentration and confusion, surely he could hear the irregular beat of his heart and wondered what was happening.  
Geralt was thankful he couldn´t blush but at the same time he wished it was possible, would give Regis a silent hint that could be easily ignored if he so wished or pursued if it was the intended result. But his body didn`t give any such hints away, if Geralt truly wanted this, wanted to know if Regis had meant with this innocent sentence what Geralt thought he did, fervently wished the vampire meant. If the vampire had indeed just shaken their whole world apart and was asking, in his own subtle way, if Geralt wanted to rearrange it to something new, then Geralt would have to say something or show he had understood in any other way.  
Of course, Geralt had never been good at talking about his feelings.

So he did something else, he jumped over his shadow and stepped towards Regis into the moonlight. Their pale skin looked almost radiant and Geralt knew his non human features were enhanced, eyes taking in the light, pale hair the same color as the moon.  
Oh, he was brave in the face of monsters and men but now his heart hammered in his chest and he´d much rather fight a whole nest of endrega than take the first step. Because if Regis had indeed not meant what Geralt´s muddled and lovelorn mind had fabricated out of that small sentence, this would be utterly mortifying and humiliating and might cost him one of his oldest friends.

So he took a deep breath to settle himself, to make sure his voice wouldn't crack. He'd never actually spoken this poem out loud but it had been in the same collection as the one Regis might have referenced. The vampire was well read, much more so than Geralt ever would be, he would recognize the poem, would connect them, or at the very least understand the words themselves. 

Regis eyes widened when Geralt started, the witcher didn't look at the object of his affections, instead calming his racing heart by watching the ever unchanging moon, not so different from their own lives. 

"Art thou pale for weariness  
Of climbing Heaven, and gazing on the earth,  
Wandering companionless  
Among the stars that have a different birth,—  
And ever changing, like a joyless eye  
That finds no object worth its constancy?"  
(To the Moon [fragment], Percy Bysshe Shelley - 1792-1822) 

Regis stared at him, when Geralt stopped his recital. The wind rustled in the pine trees while Geralt waited with bated breath. After a moment his nerves took him and he started babbling, "Found it in an old poetry book years ago, thought it was fitting."

"Geralt," Regis breathed, almost too quiet to be heard even by a witcher.  
"You will never cease to surprise me with your wit and charm..." Regis trailed off, clearly embarrassed, "Do you mean to say?... No, surely you're not. But what if?" 

Geralt had never seen Regis so discombobulated, struggling for words.  
His heart soared with a sudden hope that almost hurt. Surely the vampire would be smoother at letting people down, Geralt knew Regis was well versed in the art of affairs. He tried to smile, well aware his face was unused to the motion and looked even less appealing than usual. But that was also something Regis knew. They were both no blushing maidens. 

"Regis, you're not the only one reading books and annotations. Sometimes, I even remember them."  
This was it, if Regis didn't understand, or acted like he didn't, Geralt would pull back and act like nothing ever happened. 

Faster than Geralt could see or react, Regis rushed towards him.  
"My dear friend, tell me if I'm overstepping my boundaries here but I want nothing more than to kiss you under this full moon."  
In place of an answer Geralt grabbed the strap of Regis' bag and pulled him closer. Their lips met and Geralt knew this would be the kiss he'd never forget. It wasn't perfect, their teeth clashed together and the angle was not the best and the wind had turned cold. But it was the best kiss Geralt could remember. 

When Geralt had to stop for a moment to take a breath, Regis looked at him with so much tenderness, he wanted to melt into his arms.  
"The moon is truly lovely tonight." Geralt said, and for once Regis was lost for words, instead he caressed Geralt's cheek. 

The witcher could feel his heart tether itself to the man in front of him irrevocably. 

This would last.  
They would last.


End file.
